November 2013 Mayor’s Question Time answers

Following on from MQ 3151 / 2013, can you provide me with the figures on referrals, mentors and matches for the second quarter of the mentoring scheme which are due out this month?

Written response from the MayorQuarter 2 of the Mayor’s Mentoring Programme 329 new young boys were referred to the programme; 322 mentors were vetted and trained; and 248 new matched relationships were established.

Can you please tell me what, if any, work has been done by MOPAC to review and provide guidance on MPS policies in regards to dealing with homeless people?

Written response from the MayorMOPAC has previously sought assurances from the MPS with regard to how they deal with homeless people. The MPS are aware of the need to identify and address the key issues and MOPAC officials are in discussion with the MPS and others about how best to proceed with this work. As part of this work, MOPAC officers are linking into the work of my Rough Sleeping Group and have also recently attended a meeting of a Cross-Borough Enforcement Group.

How regularly does MOPAC meet with homeless organisations and charities to discuss issues regarding homeless people in London?

Written response from the MayorThe GLA leads on policies on homelessness and liaises with relevant organisations through my Rough Sleeping Group. As I said in my response to question 4212, MOPAC officials are working with partners to consider how best to take this work forward, and are doing so through existing forums, such as my Rough Sleeping Group, in which MOPAC participates.

Can you provide me with information about the electric bike trial in Haringey? How long will the trial last, will the e-bike cost the same as a push bike in the cycle hire scheme and how are you ensuring that this scheme has sufficient take up in order for it not to be successful?

Written response from the MayorTransport for London and the London Borough of Haringey are in the early stages of developing options for an electric bike trial in the borough. Details of length of trial, cost and potential take up have not yet been determined.

Fear of the roads is the biggest issue preventing a bigger uptake in cycling. How are you ensuring that the ‘Quietways’ being introduced alongside your e-bike are safe and will encourage people to start cycling?

Written response from the MayorQuietway routes are aimed precisely at people who do not want to cycle on main roads. They will use lower-traffic side streets, routes through parks and canal towpaths. They will be fully waymarked and easy to follow. At any section where they have to use a main road or busy junction, segregation or other provision will be made.

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Gang‘s Czar (1)Question No: 2013/4217Joanne McCartney

Was the introduction of a ‘Gang’s Czar’ in direct response to the Evening Standard’s recent campaign? What discussions have you had with the Evening Standard regarding violence in the capital?

Written response from the MayorI have made significant commitments in respect of gangs in both my manifesto and Police and Crime Plan. The Plan includes a commitment to deliver the London Crime Reduction Boards Partnership Anti Gangs Strategy. In partnership with Criminal Justice partners excellent progress is being in the implementation of the strategy. However more can be done.

Ray Lewis on the basis of his work with mentoring has been appointed (DMPCD 201 3-1 62) co-chair of the Gangs Panel with Stephen Greenhalgh. This builds on the work that MOPAC has already been doing with MPS London boroughs and other partners.

The DMPC was recently interviewed by the Evening Standard about their campaign.

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Gang‘s Czar (2)Question No: 2013/4218Joanne McCartney

How do you define ‘extreme violence’ and which parts of London are you finding these ‘pockets of extreme violence’?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

How much money has MOPAC allocated to local authorities and agencies in London through the Crime Prevention Fund? In total, how many schemes and projects have been funded?

Written response from the Mayor£17.9m has been allocated to Local Authorities for 2013/14 as part of the London Crime Prevention Fund. This is funding 174 different initiatives for 2013/14. We have provisionally allocated a further £17.2m in 2014/15 £16.8m in 2015/16 and £16.7m in 2016/17.

How much money has been allocated through the Crime Prevention Fund to support activity to tackle gangs and Serious Youth Violence?

Written response from the Mayor£3.18m of the funding provided in 2013/14 is for projects focussed on tackling gangs and serious youth violence. We have provisionally committed 4 year funding for the majority of these projects.

Please provide a full breakdown of projects funded through the Crime Prevention Fund?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

*Project Oracle (1)Question No: 2013/4222Joanne McCartney

How much money has the GLA and MOPAC spent developing Project Oracle since the launch of Time for Action in 2008? (Please including staffing costs)

Written response from the MayorIn FY 2012-13 (the first year of delivery) MOPAC contributed £100,000 and the GLA contributed £175,000.

GLA staff time (finance and project development staff) and TfL staff time (legal and the procurement staff), prior to the delivery phase, is difficult to quantify, as developing and procuring the project was part of the staff’s portfolios of projects at the time.

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Project Oracle (2)Question No: 2013/4223Joanne McCartney

How many projects within Project Oracle have achieved Level 2 (having a plan for evaluation) and Level 3 (ability to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing involvement in gangs and serious youth violence)?

Written response from the MayorTo date, 45 organisations have worked with Projects Oracle to achieve Standard One (having a plan for evaluation) and seven organisations have achieved Standard Two (ability to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing involvement in gangs and serious youth violence).

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Rise in Domestic ViolenceQuestion No: 2013/4224Joanne McCartney

What evaluative work is the MPS and/or MOPAC undertaking to understand the rise in reported cases of domestic violence?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

How much do will you have raised through the sale of the police estate by year end 2013-2014?

Written response from the MayorThe revised budget for capital receipts for 2013/14 is £92.5m.

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Police Estate Sale (3)Question No: 2013/4227Joanne McCartney

How much do you hope to raise in through the sale of the police estate by year end 2014-2015?

Written response from the MayorThe capital receipts budget for 2014/15 will form part of the budget which will be submitted to me at the end of November, and details of which will be published on the MOPAC website.

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Police Estate Sale (4)Question No: 2013/4228Joanne McCartney

How much did you estimate you would raise through the sale of the police estate in 2013-14?

Written response from the MayorThe original budget for capital receipts for 2013/14 was £40M and was approved in November 2012 as part of the MOPAC budget submission. Since then the Estate Strategy has been approved following significant public consultation and so there has been an acceleration in the estate rationalisation. The capital receipts budget has therefore recently been revised to £92.5 million.

The capital receipts will be used to fund the significant investment of £770 million needed over the next three years to modernize the IT infrastructure and estate.

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Terrorism LegislationQuestion No: 2013/4229Joanne McCartney

In your opinion as Mayor, should terrorism legislation be used to prevent “the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause”? Where would you draw the line in order to protect the right to free speech and a free press in London?

Written response from the MayorThis country has an outstanding record of defending free speech but this must not be abused. My views on the freedom of the press are well known.

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IPCCQuestion No: 2013/4230Joanne McCartney

The IPCC has supervised investigations into the use of schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act and all have shared their findings with the IPCC. Are you content that the MPS has not acted in a similar transparent way? What discussions have you had with the MPS and have you challenged them on this issue?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

*Police Vehicles (1)Question No: 2013/4231Joanne McCartney

Please provide a breakdown of the number of police vehicles that are currently operational across London by vehicle type for this year and the previous 5 years.

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

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Police Vehicles (2)Question No: 2013/4232Joanne McCartney

Please provide a breakdown of the number of police vehicles that are currently operational across London by vehicle type for this year and the previous 5 years by Borough.

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

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Police Vehicles (3)Question No: 2013/4233Joanne McCartney

Please provide a breakdown of the number of police vehicles that are currently not operational across London by vehicle type for this year. Please give state the reason these vehicles are not operational.

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be held shortly.

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Safer Neighbourhood TeamsQuestion No: 2013/4391Joanne McCartney

Can you please provide a list of PC, Sergeant, Inspector and PCSO target strength, actual strength and vacancy levels per Borough and per Ward for October 2010 for London’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

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PCSOsQuestion No: 2013/4392Joanne McCartney

How many PCSOs do you forecast to have per London in 2015? Please give total numbers and breakdown per borough and Unit.

Written response from the MayorIt is not possible to forecast accurately the number of PCSO posts at a detailed unit level across the MPS in 2015. However, the current number of PCSOs in Safer Neighbourhoods per borough is provided in the answer to MQ 4393/ 2013.

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PCSOs (2)Question No: 2013/4393Joanne McCartney

How many PCSOs do you plan to have in Safer Neighbourhood Teams in 2015? Please give total numbers and breakdown per borough.

Written response from the MayorThe current MPS organisational design for Safer Neighbourhoods provides for 1,278 PCSOs posts. The table below gives the current anticipated breakdown across individual boroughs n 2015. These figures are estimates only and are subject to change.

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SergeantsQuestion No: 2013/4394Joanne McCartney

How many sergeants do you forecast to have per London in 2015? Please give total numbers and breakdown per borough and Unit.

Written response from the MayorIt is currently estimated that there will be 4,334 Sergeants in London in by 2015.

Currently, it is not possible to forecast accurately the number of Sergeant posts at unit level across the MPS in 2015. However, it is possible to estimate the number of Sergeants in Safer Neighbourhood Teams per borough, as provided in the answer to MQ 4395 / 2013.

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Sergeants (2)Question No: 2013/4395Joanne McCartney

How many sergeants do you plan to have in Safer Neighbourhood Teams in 2015? Please give total numbers and breakdown per borough.

Written response from the MayorThe table below gives the current anticipated breakdown across individual boroughs in 2015. These figures are estimates only and are subject to change. NB: Local policing teams are supported by a range of other specialist policing services provided across the MPS.

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EthnicityQuestion No: 2013/4396Joanne McCartney

Can you please provide a percentage breakdown of PCSOs, Police Officers and by ethnicity and by gender in London for the financial year 2012/2013?

Written response from the MayorThe percentage of PCs and PCSOs who are female or of BME ethnicity for FY 2012/13 is provided in the table below:

FY 2012/13

% BME

Female %

Police Officer

10.5%

24.5%

PCSO

32.2%

34.6%

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London‘s Crime Prevention FundQuestion No: 2013/4397Joanne McCartney

Please list all moneys awarded from London’s Crime Prevention Fund to date giving the Organisation and Borough where the organisation is based?

Written response from the MayorFor 2013/14, £17.9m of the London Crime Prevention Fund has been provided to London’s local authorities to spend in line with local priorities. The breakdown of funding by borough can be found at http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/policing-crime/how-we-work/funding. Boroughs will be using some of this funding to commission local organisations – we know that over 80 initiatives are commissioning external organisations to deliver and many of these will include voluntary and community organisations.

In addition, £100,000 has been provided to fund Project Oracle, and £2.1m has been provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for drug testing.

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Police officers for SchoolsQuestion No: 2013/4398Joanne McCartney

How many police officers are currently working in schools?

Written response from the MayorEach Secondary school in London can have a Safer Schools Officers as part of the new local policing model if they want it. There are currently 219 Safer Schools Officers working in 559 Safer Schools Partnerships (comprising secondary schools, Pupil Referral Units and 6th Form Colleges).

Primary schools are supported by Safer Neighbourhood Teams and will be visited by a combination of police officers and PCSOs working in those wards.

How many MPS police officers or staff are entitled to first/business classtravel by train and by air? How much was spent in the last financial year on first/business classtravel for MPS officers?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

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Flights and Hotels (1)Question No: 2013/4400Joanne McCartney

What is the forecast spend on flights and hotels for MPS officers in 2012-13 and 2013-14?

Written response from the MayorIn 2012/13 the MPS spent £3.5m on flights and £2.9m on hotels.

As at 31 October 2013 the MPS have spent £2.3m on flights and £0.8m on hotels. Budget forecasts for the remainder of the year are not held separately for flights and hotels but form part of the overall travel and subsistence budget forecast.

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Flights and Hotels (2)Question No: 2013/4401Joanne McCartney

What was the cost of flights and hotels for MPS officers in 2012-13 and 2013-14?

Written response from the MayorPlease see my response to MQ 4400 / 2013.

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MPS Cars and DriversQuestion No: 2013/4402Joanne McCartney

Excluding those used for security purposes, how many MPS ACPO officers are provided by the MPS with personal cars, and what is the total annual cost?

Written response from the Mayor23 ACPO officers currently use cars provided by the MPS for business and personal use.

The estimated cost for the maintenance and insurance of these is £108K.

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MOPAC Payments to ACPOQuestion No: 2013/4403Joanne McCartney

What was the cost of MOPAC payments to ACPO in 2012-13 and 2013-14? What are the projected payments to ACPO in 2014-15?

Written response from the MayorOfficers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

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“8 to Great”Question No: 2013/4404Joanne McCartney

Can you confirm whether your Gangs Czar’s trip to the United States to be trained in the “8 to Great” process is in his personal capacity or under City Hall auspices? If the latter what are the total costs of the trip and what are the expected outcomes?

Written response from the MayorThe trip undertaken by Ray Lewis in relation to the “8 to Great” process was in his personal capacity. No costs were incurred by City Hall.

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Directorate of Public AffairsQuestion No: 2013/4405Joanne McCartney

What is the planned budget for the Metropolitan Police Service Directorate of public affairs for 2014/15?

Written response from the MayorThe Metropolitan Police Service Directorate of Media and Communications (formally Directorate of Public Affairs) 2014/15 budget will form part of the budget submission due to be submitted to the Mayor at the end of November 2013. Details will be published on the MOPAC website.